Method of making available content resources to users of a telephone network

A telephone network comprising a bearer network with service switching points, a service control subsystem, and intelligent peripheral functionality;

• characterized in that:
• said intelligent peripheral functionality is connected to a computer network that is generally accessible to users of the telephone network but logically distinct therefrom;
• said service switching point includes means for determining during call setup involving a user telephone connected to said bearer network, conditions indicative that a content-item access service is required involving accessing a content item provided at a particular URI on a server connected to said computer network, said content item having an associated predetermined code;
• said service control subsystem includes means responsive to the service switching point determining that said content-item access service is required, to form said predetermined code using at least a part of a number input from said user telephone;
• one of said service control subsystem and intelligent peripheral functionality has mapping means for mapping said predetermined code to the said particular URI of the content item to be accessed;
• and
• said intelligent peripheral functionality os operative to use the URI derived by said mapping means to access the required content item over said computer network and transfer it to said user telephone.

A method of making available content sinks to users of a telephone network, said content sinks being provided on at least one server connected to a computer network that is generally accessible to users of the telephone network but logically distinct therefrom, and said content sinks each being associated with a respective predetermined code and being locatable on said computer network by corresponding known URls;

• said method including the steps of:
• (a) during the course of a call involving a user telephone connected to said telephone network, determining conditions indicative that a said content sink is to be accessed and thereupon forming the said predetermined code of the required said content sink, step(a) involving the use of a number input from said user telephone;
• (b) mapping said predetermined code to the said known URI of the content sink associated with that predetermined code;
• and
• (c) transferring content from said user telephone through said telephone network and then over said computer network to said content sink, the URI derived in step (b) being used to access the content sink over said computer network for effecting this content transfer;
• steps (a) and (b) being carried out within the telephone network and step (c) involving intelligent peripheral functionality of the telephone network.

A content retrieval system for retrieving over the Internet content held on HTTP servers at predetermined URLs and delivering the retrieved content over a telephone system to a telephone user, said system comprising:

• a telephone-system interface for receiving selection data through the telephone system from a user phone, and for sending back to that phone retrieved content in audible form;
• mapping apparatus comprising a storage device holding mappings between selection data and URLs, and user-input apparatus for receiving HTTP-protocol messages over the Internet from telephone users specifying said mappings in terms of the particular predetermined URLs to be associated with particular selection data, the user-input apparatus setting the mappings held on the storage device according to these messages;
• control apparatus responsive to the receipt at the telephone interface of selection data, to access the mapping apparatus to retrieve the predetermined URL corresponding to the particular selection data received;
• Internet interface apparatus for retrieving over the Internet content held on HTTP servers at predetermined URLs specified to it by said control apparatus, and for converting the retrieved content into an audible form for sending through the telephone system by the telephone-system interface.